The city and county fire departments are authorized to respond to and abate the effects of any release or threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment, pursuant to the existing preplanning agreement, when requested to do so by the handler or user or when, in the judgment of the Incident Commander, there exists an imminent hazard to human health or the environment. The Fire Chief, or other person in charge of the incident scene, shall authorize the response of the Local Hazardous Materials Response and Decontamination Unit for any event which may exceed their ability to abate, mitigate, or dispose of. This may be done at his or her discretion by contacting the DES Director/Emergency Manager and/or the 911 dispatch center. If the event exceeds the capabilities for the Local Hazardous Materials Response and Decontamination Unit, then response teams from other jurisdictions may be summoned and utilized at the direction of the Local Hazardous Materials Response and Decontamination Unit Commander or Hazardous Materials Coordinator or DES Director/Emergency Manager.
(Prior Code, § 40.15) (Ord. passed 10-6-2005; Ord. 112, passed 5-2-2019)